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Is My MacBook Pro Always Listening?

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Re: Is My MacBook Pro Always Listening?

#41

Post by ridruejo »

jrockway wrote: post #29

If you are really worried about this, I recommend surgery. I used to have this Windows box at work that would always make sounds for no reason, even though the sound was muted. The solution was to open it up and physically disconnect the speaker. Never made a sound again. If you don't want your computer to be used as a listening device, first try adjusting your tinfoil hat. If you're still worried, open it up and rem…

Well, the article reminds me of the "Webcam" short film. It is not so much about covert NSA agents taking over your computer as targeted malware... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i841CamEX3o

Re: Is My MacBook Pro Always Listening?

#42

Post by lloeki »

jwr wrote: post #37

Every microphone in every powered device must be considered as listening if you are serious about security at all. So what if the panel actually even disabled the mic preamp on the board? You could have a program/virus/trojan that silently re-enabled it behind your back, without you knowing. So I'd say this is nothing to be concerned about, because every device you own potentially "listens" with its microphones all t…

> "if you're sure your hardware hasn't been tampered with, this should physically disconnect the microphone."

Why so? Most soundcards merely detect an impedance change and flick a bit to switch from internal microphone to line-in but you can have full control of that bit by software. That's actually what the prefpane does: even with something plugged in the line in, one can switch back to the internal microphone as a source. (EDIT: apparently it goes hidden on new hardware revisions but the functionality is there, just boot into Linux and do some poking on the soundcard to see what's really available)

Re: Is My MacBook Pro Always Listening?

#43

Post by JonnieCache »

bradleyland wrote: post #35

Changing your sound configuration is useless against anyone who has obtained admin rights on your operating system. Windows, Linux, Mac, or otherwise. If they have root/admin, they can override any setting you change at the most basic levels. If you're still OCD and concerned about it, install Soundflower [1] and you can easily configure Soundflower as your default input, but not feed anything on to the Soundflower b…

I'd just like to chime in with another vote for soundflower. It's useful for any number of things, I have recently used it to pass youtube videos through VST plugins to clean up the audio, and to make Cave Story, a somewhat old game, work with my external soundcard. You can also use it as an alternative to those ripoff "record your audio output" programs.

It is made by the fine people who produced Max/MSP.

Re: Is My MacBook Pro Always Listening?

#44

Post by Karunamon »

petsos wrote: post #34
jsilence wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Use the same laptop RMS is using and read the source. http://richard.stallman.usesthis.com/

How would I verify that this source was actually used?

Build it yourself and verify via hash that what is on the firmware is what would get written.

However, if you're so paranoid that you think this could be a problem, you're already outside the realm of buying preassembled computers anyways. Who knows who could have tampered with it en route?

Re: Is My MacBook Pro Always Listening?

#45

Post by JonnieCache »

petsos wrote: post #34
jsilence wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Use the same laptop RMS is using and read the source. http://richard.stallman.usesthis.com/

How would I verify that this source was actually used?

Build it yourself, using a pencil, paper, and some sort of bit-flipping raygun. You can compile C in your head, right?

Re: Is My MacBook Pro Always Listening?

#46

Post by Karunamon »

derekorgan wrote: post #18

Are you suggesting that my mac book pro is sending this data to some apple server somewhere? Can you imagine A the traffic that would take and B the amount of useless information that would be recorded. They have millions of computers! If its not being recorded locally or sent to an external source from a privacy point of view there is no problem. Both of these would be easy to detect by looking for sound files somew…

No, rather that "Hmm, this is odd, it seems there is no way to disable the mic"

I didn't read any allegations of remote recording here. Perhaps you clicked on another article by mistake?

Re: Is My MacBook Pro Always Listening?

#47

Post by lloeki »

jsilence wrote: post #14
seclorum wrote: post #8

Yeah .. umm .. and there is no guarantee that your CPU isn't broadcasting every single operation to a top-secret government satellite, either. The technology is there: have you audited your CPU today?

Use the same laptop RMS is using and read the source. http://richard.stallman.usesthis.com/

Would not help against Van Eck phreaking and the likes.

Re: Is My MacBook Pro Always Listening?

#49

Post by mickael1 »

ddagradi wrote: post #31
mchanson wrote: post #22

This article is without merit. The author's logic train derails shortly after leaving the station. Without removing the hardware there is no way to prevent someone with remote root access from recording audio from any input regardless of settings. This is true of any machine that has audio inputs and drivers loaded for those devices.

He even gets basic facts incorrect. The author assumes his Macbook Pro doesn't have a dedicated audio input. It does. Every Macbook Pro does. (The Macbook Air is the only Mac shipping without a built-in audio input). Really, what I see is a software update that fixes a user interface bug. System Preferences no longer offers disconnected audio inputs as a selectable option, because it's just plain smarter that way. Co…

The 13 inch Macbook Pro, just like the Air, does not have a dedicated audio input. It's one of those mobile phone headphone/microphone combo jacks.

Re: Is My MacBook Pro Always Listening?

#50

Post by batista »

jrockway wrote: post #29

If you are really worried about this, I recommend surgery. I used to have this Windows box at work that would always make sounds for no reason, even though the sound was muted. The solution was to open it up and physically disconnect the speaker. Never made a sound again. If you don't want your computer to be used as a listening device, first try adjusting your tinfoil hat. If you're still worried, open it up and rem…

If you are really worried about this, I recommend surgery.

Me too -but in a more literal way.

Sorry for the downvotable comment, but cannot resist a pun, especially when it kinda makes my actual point.

The thing is, whether the MBP is "always listening" or not is of little consequence, in an age when we know that governments look into the wires, have taps into ISPs and can listen to any and all mobile phone conversation.

Btw, my iMac 27" 2009, doesn't seem to register any sound with the internal mic set to the minimum volume. And there's also the "Audio MIDI setup" program, where you can disable it completely.

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